10 Businesses Announced as Finalists for the Duke of York Award for University Entrepreneurship

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UBM Built Environment Marketing

05 Aug, 2015, 10:05 GMT

LONDON, August 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

-Finalists announced for 2015 National Business Awards-

-Visit http://www.nationalbusinessawards.co.uk for shortlist-

Over 140 of Britain's leading businesses, business leaders and social enterprises have been revealed as finalists for the 2015 National Business Awards, and now the shortlist for the Duke of York Award for University Entrepreneurship has been announced.

The finalists for this award are:

  • University of Leeds
  • University of the West of England
  • Sheffield Hallam University
  • London South Bank University
  • Liverpool John Moores University
  • University of Exeter
  • University of Hertfordshire
  • University of York
  • UCL
  • University of Huddersfield

Recognising the work of universities to encourage and support entrepreneurship, this Award will distinguish those doing and delivering most. Designed to inspire and measure university commitment to entrepreneurship, the Award will focus on the next level and quality of enterprise societies, use of alumni entrepreneurs, small business internships and the extent to which the careers service offers start up advice.

Timothy Barnes, Director of UCL Enterprise Operations and Director, UCL Advances, the centre for entrepreneurship at UCL (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/advances) said,

"UCL is delighted to have been shortlisted for the Duke of York Award for University Entrepreneurship in its inaugural year. We work hard to ensure that we open up our knowhow and resources to anyone that wants to learn about, start or grow a business. It's really rewarding to see our efforts recognised in this way."

Hundreds of businesses entered or were nominated for a chance to be shortlisted for a National Business Award, before those entries were narrowed down to the finalists. The process for the shortlisted companies now involves presenting to a judging panel from a variety of professional backgrounds that will be tasked with deciding the winner for each accolade, to be announced at the National Business Awards ceremony on the 10th November 2015.

Tom Broughton, Programme Director of the National Business Awards said: "This award is new to this year and looks to be a really interesting category. The encouragement of university students to think like an entrepreneur could produce some seriously good business people in years to come and is something that should be strongly encouraged."

This year's finalists represent award categories such as The Grichan Partnerships Sustainable Business Award, The Lloyds Bank New Business of the Year Award and the Inflexion International Growth Business of the Year Award.

An all encompassing range of industries are represented in the shortlists for this year's awards, with companies from recruitment and children's clothing, to pet food and online marketing being selected for the chance to win a coveted National Business Award.  The scale of the finalists is just as varied, with companies turning over less than a million pounds to over £25 million, employing 20 people or over 70,000 people.

Visit http://www.nationalbusinessawards.co.uk for a full list of all finalists and to book a table at the event on 10th November 2015.

About the National Business Awards
Organised by UBM who operates in over 23 countries and organises many of the world's largest, most important exhibitions, conferences, awards, directories, websites and publications across a wide variety of industries. The Lloyds Bank National Business Awards is the flagship awards programme that recognises and rewards excellence across all sectors. Visit http://www.nationalbusinessawards.co.uk for further information or follow us on Twitter @businessawards.

Categories include -

The Corporate Citizenship Award
The Customer Focus Award
The Lloyds Bank Digital Business of the Year Award
The Employer of the Year Award
The Smith & Williamson Entrepreneur of the Year Award
The UKTI Growth Business of the Year Award
The Market Gravity Innovation Award
The Lloyds Bank New Business of the Year Award
The Inflexion International Growth Business of the Year Award
The Duke of York New Entrepreneur of the Year Award
The Lloyds Bank Small to Medium-Sized Business of the Year Award
The Social Enterprise of the Year Award
The Vonage Business Enabler of the Year
The Grichan Partnerships Sustainable Business Award
The Duke of York Award for University Entrepreneurship
The QBE FTSE 100 Business of the Year Award
The Ashridge Business School Leader of the Year Award
The Lloyds Bank Excellence in Business Award

About UBM Live:  

The National Business Awards is organised by UBM Live. UBM Live connects people and creates opportunities for companies across five continents to develop new business, meet customers, launch new products, promote their brands and expand their markets.   Through premier brands such as MD&M, CPhI, IFSEC, TFM&A, Cruise Shipping Miami, the Concrete Show and many others, UBM Live exhibitions, conferences, awards programs, publications, websites and training and certification programs are an integral part of the marketing plans of companies across more than 20 industry sectors.

Official Partners  

Lloyds Bank, The Grichan Partnership, Inflexion Private Equity, Market Gravity, QBE, Smith & Williamson, UKTI, Vonage.

For further information or interview opportunities contact:
PR Manager: Sam Fisher
Tel: +44(0)207-921-8089
Email: sam.fisher@ubm.com